


Primetime For Our Love

by ziamandbeyond



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, The X Factor Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:36:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6652594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziamandbeyond/pseuds/ziamandbeyond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn was twelve years old when his soulmate died. It was the worst thing he'd ever experienced, but he tried to pull through. Singing seemed to be the only thing that could bring him a semblance of normalcy and he was pretty good, according to his family at least. He wanted the chance to do it for a living, so he signed up for X Factor hoping that he would be able to overcome his loss in the process.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Primetime For Our Love

**Author's Note:**

> I've made a playlist for the songs that are mentioned in the story which you can find [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX3AG0xz92WjtC1KskNdwUIf5WG1xpmsr).

When Zayn was five, he asked his parents about the name on his wrist. They sat him down and explained that everyone was born with a second half, another person who has half of their soul. A person who will love them and be their best friend and want to be with them forever. He ran his little fingers over the black letters on his wrist and couldn’t wait until he met Liam.

Sometimes Zayn felt different than everyone else in his year. His skin was darker than most and he liked things the other kids thought were weird. Whenever he got teased or felt alone, he’d think about Liam and how Liam would understand him completely. He often wondered if Liam was going through something similar wherever he was. He hoped he wasn’t but if he was then Zayn wanted to know if Liam thought of him the same way.

A lot of people will flippantly claim they’re having the worst day of their life, but Zayn always wanted to scream when that phrase was muttered around him. Zayn remembers every single excruciating detail from the worst day of his life.

It happened when he was twelve and it started just like every other day. Zayn’s mom had made him and his sisters waffles for breakfast, the school bus was ten minutes late picking him up for school, he stepped in gum entering the building, and somebody tripped him while he was walking down the hall.

Classes went by as normal, lunch wasn’t very interesting but nobody bothered him while he read in the corner of the cafeteria. It was when he was walking to class after lunch that his life changed forever.

Zayn was walking down the hallway on his way to his favorite class when someone pushed him into a locker. At that exact moment, a searing pain ripped through the small boy. Zayn dropped to the ground, screaming out in agony. The boy who pushed him was crouched down next to Zayn begging him to stop screaming, that he was sorry and that he didn’t have to be so dramatic.

The yelling continued as Zayn clutched his burning wrist. Teachers came running to see what was happening as Zayn cried out in pain. Zayn was in no state to tell anyone what was wrong, but one teacher noticed him clutching his wrist. The teacher reached for his wrist to examine it. They gasped in shock when they looked down to see that the name on Zayn’s wrist was white and looked like an old scar.

The teacher lifted a hand to her heart when they realized that Zayn was feeling the death of his soulmate. Their heart broke for the little boy.

Zayn was inconsolable when he caught sight of his wrist. He knew what a white name meant, he’d seen it before on his grandma’s wrist after his grandfather passed away.

The teacher helped Zayn to his feet and brought him to the school nurse. His parents were called and by the time they arrived, Zayn had no more tears left in him to cry.

He sat in a quiet shock while the school faculty told them what happened and that he was excused from classes for a week. They even suggested that they have Zayn talk to a therapist to get through his loss.

His parents drove him home, helped him inside to his bed and let him sleep. All Zayn could do that night was cry some more. He would never get to meet Liam, he no longer had faith that one day everything would be better. There was no one waiting to meet him. There was no one to be his best friend for the rest of his life. It felt like he might never get through the loss of the boy he’d never met but loved more than anything.

* * *

Zayn tried to move on and eventually made a few friends. It took a lot of therapy and he constantly kept his wrist covered so he wouldn’t accidentally see his scar and be reminded of his loss. There was still a sadness to him, but he began to feel human again and not just like the shell of one.

Nothing Zayn tried ever seemed to help until his therapist suggested music. Zayn fell in love with singing and found happiness for the first time since he was twelve. He told his parents that sing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life so he decided to try out for X Factor. His parents always told him his voice was amazing, but he didn't know if they were just placating him to keep him from being sad again. He sent in his X Factor application to see if he really had a chance to really make it.

Zayn knew it was his moment of truth when he was standing in front of the judges and they were asking him questions like, “Why do you want to be a singer?”

“Singing has been the only thing that’s made me happy since my soulmate died,” Zayn admitted.

“Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that. How old were you?”

“Twelve. We never got to meet, but I loved him. My parents had me see a therapist who suggested music and so now here I am.”

“Very well, off you go,” Simon said with a wave of his arm.

The music Zayn had brought with him (his own version of Pixie Lott’s ‘Broken Arrow’) started to play through the speakers. He started to sing the lyrics he’d changed a bit to fit his situation:

 

> _What do you do when you're stuck,_   
>  _Because the one that you love,_   
>  _Was taken away,_   
>  _And you can't deal with the pain,_   
>  _And now there’s no way to fix me,_   
>  _Mend what he did,_   
>  _I'll find the piece that I'm missing,_   
>  _But I still miss him,_   
>  _I miss him, I'm missing him,_   
>  _Oh I miss him, I miss him, I'm missing him_
> 
> _And I see him in the front row,_   
>  _Wants to be first in line,_   
>  _Or waiting by my window,_   
>  _Giving me all his time,_   
>  _He could’ve been my hero,_   
>  _Instead he had to let go,_   
>  _But this love is still in me,_   
>  _Like a broken arrow._   
>  _Like a broken arrow._
> 
> _He's the wind on my flesh_   
>  _When goosebumps break out_   
>  _He's giving me breath_   
>  _When it feels like I’ll drown,_   
>  _And now they’ll try to convince me,_   
>  _That this isn’t worth it,_   
>  _That it can't complete me,_   
>  _He's the part that is missing,_   
>  _I miss him, I'm missing him,_   
>  _Oh I miss him I miss him, I'm missing him,_
> 
> _And I see him in the front row,_   
>  _Wants to be first in line,_   
>  _Or waiting by my window,_   
>  _Giving me all his time,_   
>  _He could’ve been my hero,_   
>  _Instead he had to let go,_   
>  _But this love is still in me,_   
>  _Like a broken arrow._   
>  _Like a broken arrow._

When he was done singing, the entire audience was on their feet and the judges were tearing up.

“Not only do you have an amazing voice, Zayn, but that was a beautiful and touching rendition of that song. You’ve got four yeses, we’ll see you at bootcamp.”

Zayn left the stage thrilled, his family hugging him close and letting him cry for a bit since he bared his soul with that song. He went home and packed his bags before getting on a train to London to attend Bootcamp.

Zayn kept to himself, the only person he paid any mind to was his roommate. When he wasn’t practicing he was sleeping or on the phone with his mom.

Unlike some of his fellow contestants, Zayn only did what was required then retreated to his room to practice on his own. He never stuck around to watch other performances or socialize.

Tensions were high on the final week of bootcamp. They were separated by their categories and brought before the judges. Zayn watched as group after group was picked apart by the judges. People were coming out with their dreams crushed trying to get away from the cameras as their lives fell apart. Then Zayn was standing on the stage in front of the judges and names were being read off. He still hadn’t heard his and only one name was left to be read. It wasn’t his.

As the group started filing out of the room, Zayn felt like his stomach had dropped out of his body. It was a horrible feeling, but it wasn’t the worst thing he’d ever experienced. He heard someone saying it was the worst day of their life as they were leaving the stage and he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “No, it isn’t, mate. I’m not saying it doesn’t suck. I definitely feel it too, but it won't compare to what you’ll feel when you lose your soulmate. That will be the worst day of your life.”

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he thought for a minute that he was going to be in trouble for what he said. Instead there was a PA with a clipboard asking him to follow her. She tapped another boy after checking her clipboard and asked him to do the same.

The first thing Zayn noticed about the boy was how attractive he was, but Zayn tried to stop those thoughts in their tracks. It had happened a few times throughout the years, and Zayn started to realize the boys he thought were good looking tended to have similar features. He wondered if it was because they looked like Liam.

The two boys were brought back in front of the judges by themselves. They stood there silently and Zayn was too scared to look too far from the ground.

“We’ve decided that we like you two. We think you’re both extremely talented and we don’t want to send you home at this point in the competition. You both have similar backgrounds, are the same age, and you’re incredible singers so we want to give you a chance and offer you a spot at the judge’s house as a duo.” The two boys looked at each other before smiling and wrapping each other up in a hug.

“You two are going to have to work harder than every other group if you want to make it and this experience isn’t going to be any fun for you if you both keep hiding away every second you can. You’ve both been through a lot, maybe you can gain a new friend that understands what you’re going through at the very least.”

They were getting ready to leave the stage again only this time with more hope when Zayn realized that he didn’t even know the name of the boy he just agreed to team up with.

“Sorry, but did we just agree to form a group even though we’ve never met?” Zayn laughed.

“That we did, the most spontaneous thing I’ve done in years,” the boy chuckled. He held out his hand, “I’m Liam.”

Hearing that name knocked the breath out of Zayn for a moment. He’d met plenty of Liam’s over the years but it still sends a flash of pain through him whenever he hears the name.

“You okay, mate?” Liam asked looking concerned.

“Yeah, fine. Sorry. I’m Zayn,” he said finally taking Liam’s hand.

“Zayn?” Liam asked.

Zayn nodded.

“Zayn,” Liam muttered to himself.

“You alright, Liam?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. My soulmate’s name is Zayn so hearing it puts me off balance.”

“Your soulmate’s name is Zayn? Have you met yet?” he asked.

“No, our connection was broken so I might not ever meet him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I technically died as a kid so our connection was severed.”

Zayn couldn’t breath anymore and his legs stopped holding him up at some point. He looked up to realize he was on the floor now. Liam was crouched down next to him and a few PA’s were running over but Liam asked them to give Zayn some space.

“How old were you?” Zayn asked. It felt like his entire life revolved around this question. “How old were you when you died?”

“I was twelve,” Liam said putting his hands over Zayn’s. Zayn was clutching him so hard that it hurt.

Zayn reached for his wrist feeling the bracelet he wore to cover the scar. His fingers were shaking too much to remove it so he pathetically held it up to Liam, “Help.”

Liam grasped the bracelet and gently removed it from Zayn’s wrist. When Liam looked down and saw his name in white across Zayn’s wrist he burst into tears. Now he was the one gripping Zayn so hard that it hurt but Zayn didn’t mind one bit.

“Oh my god,” he said lifting his wrist up so Zayn could see his own name scarred white on Liam’s skin.

“You’re alive. You’re still alive,” Zayn cried. They hugged again and Zayn never wanted to let go.

Eventually they had to leave the studio. They had to tell their parents that they were going to the judge’s house but more importantly that they had found each other. They refused to leave the other’s side.

They clutched hands as they called their respective parents and gave them the news. They had someone take a picture of the two of them and then they sent that along with a photo of their wrists. Zayn had to go into a little more detail about the whole situation because they had spent the past five years thinking that Liam was dead. Both their parents were thrilled with the news and wished them luck at the judge’s house.

Judge’s House was the first time they’d be performing as a duo. They decided they wanted to sing a song that would fit their situation so they selected ‘No Air’ for their performance for Simon.

He seemed to like it, they never saw the smile leave his face for their entire performance and they hoped that was a good sign.

When it came time for them to learn if they’d be staying for the live shows, Zayn and Liam clutched each other. “I love you guys,” Simon said. “I think it’s absolutely brilliant that you two found each other. We had no idea you two were soulmates when we put you together. I think you guys are going to be an act that can fight through anything and come out on top and I’d like you to continue on with this competition.”

“Thank you,” they said pulling Simon into a hug. “You’ve given us so much already,” Zayn said.

“In our eyes, we’ve already won but we hope we’ll make you proud,” Liam said.

There was a little bit of time before the live shows would begin in London, so they took the time off to get to know each other more and meet the other’s family. Their parents were so happy when they met their soulmates. Zayn’s mom had cried for a long time because she was so happy that Liam was alive. “I didn’t know if my baby would ever find true happiness again.” Liam’s mom had done about the same when Zayn stepped into their house.

Before they left for London, Zayn and Liam spent the night going on their first date. They saw Captain America and discussed some of their favorite things, movies, and superheroes. They gripped each other tightly when Captain crashed into the water and Agent Carter’s wrist turned white. They both knew that feeling too well.

“I didn’t know that was possible. That someone could die but then be revived with the bond forever broken. Does it sound horrible that I’m glad I hadn’t known? I would have spent the last five years obsessing if I had,” Zayn said as he brushed his fingers over Liam’s wrist.

“No, that doesn’t sound horrible. If I really hadn't made it, it would have been crushing to have that sort of hope. I get it.”

“I also wouldn’t have gotten into singing so this may have never happened,” he said lifting their intertwined hands.

Liam leaned forward so that his forehead was touching Zayn’s. Zayn moved closer and kissed Liam for the first time.

“You’re the most important person in my life. Please don’t leave me again,” he said.

“You’re never getting rid of me, babe. Don’t worry,” Liam chuckled kissing Zayn once more.

Since they were soulmates, Liam and Zayn were allowed to share a bed at the X Factor house and they took the producers up on that offer. The night of the first live performance was upon them and Liam and Zayn were nervous but calm. So far it seemed like people were already rooting for them. The footage of their story so far started playing and they introduced their song on the screen. “This song is about getting to know the deepest parts of someone you love. Since we’re still getting to know each other, it seemed fitting. It’s also about getting through your past baggage in order to open yourself up to the person who loves you. It shows that it’s not always easy even if you’re made for someone.”

They entered the stage to thunderous applause and once it quieted down their music started. Liam began singing ‘Beneath Your Beautiful.’ The audience was standing for them by the end of the song. The judges spoke about how very raw their performance was and how they could practically feel the things they were going through.

“I already hope we see you two in the finals.”

The next week the video introducing their song had their parents speaking about how both boys coped with the loss of their bond. “It was very hard. There’s no way to fill that void but it seemed we couldn’t even make it bearable for him until we introduced music into his therapy.”

“He was already having a tough time before the loss of the bond. We were worried he wouldn’t have the drive to get better. It was rocky for a couple of weeks but he pulled through. He said, ‘Mom, it might be harder but I need to find him. He has to know he’s not alone.’ So he decided he needed to get better for Zayn.”

“Now singing One Republic’s “Feel Again” here’s Zayn and Liam…"

* * *

“You know we get on Twitter each week and see what people are saying. It means so much to see people supporting us,” Zayn said in this weeks video.

“This entire journey has been crazy. I can’t believe that we found each other and we’re only falling more and more in love with each other and it’s amazing that we can share it with others.”

 

> _When you're down, and it's hard_   
>  _And you feel like you've given your all_   
>  _Baby our love will always keep it real and true_
> 
> _Cause baby it's a primetime for our love_   
>  _Ain't nobody peekin' but the stars above_   
>  _It's a primetime for our love_   
>  _And heaven is bettin' on us_

* * *

They made it to the finals and had to come up with two songs to sing the first one they decided on was ‘Made To Love’ by John Legend. Liam introduced the song saying, “I still can’t believe I’m sitting here with the love of my life, but at the same time I don’t know how we survived until we met 5 months ago.”

“It’s scary to think that this could be our last performance on the show. The other finalists are so talented so we decided to step up our game a little bit and learned to dance for this one,” Zayn said.

“Yeah, it was a real challenge,” Liam said sitting by himself on the couch Zayn had been filmed on earlier. Then he leaned forward and whispered towards the camera, “Zayn can’t dance.”

“I heard that jerk,” Zayn yelled from off camera.

“Love you, babe,” Liam laughed. “You’re only setting yourself up for failure if you’re not honest with yourself. You’ve gotten better though.”

“Gonna dance my foot up your…” Liam started pouting and Zayn stopped his threat. He popped into the frame long enough to give Liam a kiss on the cheek and pop back out. The intro video ended on Liam’s smiling face beaming at the camera.

They came out onstage and started their routine. The choreographer that had worked with them decided to show a bit of their story through the song, so they started apart from each other going through separate things. When they came back together, the audience cheered. They continued the rest of the song by each other’s side and the crowd was standing by the time they ended and took their bow. The judges were crying and Liam and Zayn themselves were trying to hold back the full force of their emotions.

It got them through the next round of eliminations. It was only them and one other person left in the competition. For their last song, Liam and Zayn didn’t care much about the competition. They just wanted to leave their souls on the stage that brought them together. They sang  “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri and put everything they had into it.

* * *

It was time to find out who won the X Factor and Liam and Zayn were onstage holding on to each other tight. When their names were announced as the winners, they hugged one another while tears of happiness dripped down their faces. When the announcer turned the microphone over to them to get their reactions, Zayn took hold of it and turned to Liam. “Liam, would you do the honor of becoming my husband?” he asked. The crowd was deafening around them.

Liam was shocked, but looked hopeful as he asked, “Are you joking?”

“Not unless you’re planning on saying no. If that’s the case then this was totally a joke,” he said. He took Liam’s hand in his and bent to put on knee on the ground. “It feels like I’ve known you forever and I want to spend the rest of my life feeling this way with you by my side.”

“Yes,” Liam said pulling Zayn back to his feet. “Absolutely,” he finished before leaning forward to capture Zayn’s lips in a kiss. The judges were standing and congratulating them as they took to the stage to perform their winning single for the audience. It was a tearful rendition, but also one filled with joy and hope for the future.


End file.
